Assyrians Commemorate Martyrs Day Amid Strife and Exodus From Middle East

Posted 2018-08-07 01:58 GMT

The Arabic letter "n" (inside red circle), signifying "Nasrani" (Christian), on an Assyrian home in Mosul. (AINA) -- August 7 is Assyrian Martyrs Day. It is commemorated worldwide by Assyrians to remember their fallen, including the 3,000 who were killed by the Iraqi army in Iraq between August 7 and 11, 1933 in the town of Simmele (ܣܡܠܐ), North Iraq, and its surroundings. It was carried out by the Iraqi Army, led by General Bakir Sidqi, a Kurd, and Kurdish and Arab irregulars.

On August 7 Assyrians will commemorate Assyrians Martyrs Day world wide, but the situation for Assyrians in the Middle East is bleak, with an unstoppable exodus to the West.

A coalition of four Assyrian organizations from the Unites States, Canada and Europe has sent a letter to the Iraqi government asking for official recognition of the massacre of Assyrians by the Iraqi army in August, 1933. Called the Simmele massacre, it was conducted in the Assyrian town of Simmele and its surroundings by the Iraqi army and Kurdish and Arab irregulars, between August 7 and August 11 of 1933 (Read the full story here).

Your browser does not support the video tag.Interview with Simmele Survivor

The Turkish Genocide of Assyrians

Between 1915 and 1918 750,000 Assyrians (75%), 500,000 Greeks and 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks and Kurds in a genocide that aimed at and nearly succeeded in destroying the Christian communities in the Ottoman Empire.

The ISIS Genocide

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) captured the city of Mosul, Iraq on June 10. Almost immediately thereafter it began to drive Assyrians out of Mosul and destroy Christian and non-Sunni institutions.

200,000 fled from Baghdede (Qaraqosh), Bartella, Karamles and dozens of Assyrian villages and towns in the Nineveh Plain north of Mosul, most have not returned.